Last February, when the Knicks traded for Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, there was at least one voice within the organization that wasn’t quite in favor of the move—coach Mike D’Antoni. The reason was obvious: Anthony is simply not the kind of player who works well in D’Antoni’s floor-spreading, pick-and-roll offense.

One fellow former coach told Sporting News that, around the time the deal was made, D’Antoni told him, “With this trade, I don’t know how much longer I will be able to stay here (in New York).”

That was never more obvious than over the last couple of weeks, as the Knicks endured a six-game losing streak during which Anthony appeared frustrated. Reports in the New York media Wednesday morning had Anthony privately wishing he would be traded, expressing his displeasure with the franchise and claiming he had been told that D’Antoni would not be back as coach this year. It has become increasingly clear that D’Antoni and Anthony would not be able to coexist.

On Wednesday, a day before the NBA’s trade deadline, D’Antoni bowed out, with the sides mutually agreeing to part ways, ending his four-plus-year run as the team’s coach. The move was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

D’Antoni compiled a 121-167 record in New York, presiding over a two-year rebuilding phase before the team was able to create enough cap space to sign power forward Amare Stoudemire. That was followed by the controversial deal for Anthony. In the last two seasons, the Knicks are 34-31 without Anthony and 26-37 with him.

It’s another strange twist in what has been the strangest of seasons for the Knicks. Struggling from the beginning of the year after cutting Chauncey Billups and signing Tyson Chandler, the Knicks caught fire thanks to the unlikely emergence of point guard Jeremy Lin, who led the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak that revitalized the season and turned Lin into an international star. But that was with Lin primarily running D’Antoni’s offense against weaker teams, with Anthony sitting out with a groin injury. When Anthony returned and the competition got stiffer, the Knicks started losing.

Now, with the Bucks acquiring guard Monta Ellis and moving past the Knicks in the playoff race, it will be up to assistant coach Mike Woodson to clean up this team. Unfortunately for Woodson, there will be precious little time to do so. If Woodson is to please Anthony, he will need to overhaul the playbook and to de-emphasize the pick-and-roll. That won’t be too difficult, because it will require only that he run more isolation plays for Anthony.

But, beyond Woodson, the question the Knicks now face is this: Who’s next? The organization is still reeling, and the team will take some time before starting a search.

Speculation immediately leapt to former Knick Phil Jackson, who has long wanted to follow in the footsteps of his old coach, Red Holzman. Jackson is one of the few coaches who could come in with enough credentials to command immediate respect from Anthony. But if Jackson were to be lured out of retirement, he would not do so in the middle of a season.

A source tells Sporting News that one potential candidate who would be very interested in the Knicks job is Orlando Magic assistant Patrick Ewing, one of the greatest Knicks players of all time. Ewing has sought out head coaching jobs in the past, and interviewed for the Pistons job last year. He does not have strong ties to Dolan, but there is no doubt he would have strong fan approval. Should the Knicks continue grooming Allan Houston to be the team’s general manager, Ewing—Houston’s former teammate—might make a good deal of sense.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, meanwhile, preemptively shot down Knicks rumors by posting on his Twitter account, “As I’ve said before, I have the greatest job in basketball at any level. Why would I be interested in another job? I love being the coach of the commonwealth’s team. To the (Big Blue Nation and) all the recruits that are coming or want to come, I will be at Kentucky.” It’s also unlikely that the Knicks would pursue a college coach—though it has been noted that Calipari is represented by CAA, the same agency that reps Anthony. Calipari has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Wizards job, too.

There’s always—ahem—Isiah Thomas, a favorite of owner James Dolan, even after he left the team in financial disarray and as the subject of an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit. Thomas remains deeply unpopular among Knicks fans, making his return a longshot.

SI.com reported that former Utah coach Jerry Sloan would be interested in the Knicks job, though the Knicks probably would be looking for a younger coach who could better relate to the team’s players.